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Friday, August 19, 2005

Gaza Strip

I have been watching the events going on over in the Gaza area with very mixed feelings. I think about the recent US Supreme Court decision on the use of private land for a new definition of eminent domain as I watch the Jewish settlers being forcibly removed from homes, and yesterday, from the Synagogue (realizing that those in the synagogue are NOT all settlers).

I think about how I would feel if I were removed from my own home by force, even with monetary compensation, and I can understand exactly how the Israeli settlers feel.

I sit here remembering a time when the Sudentenland was signed over to Germany in the Munich Agreement by Neville Chamberlain, of England, as well as France's Deladier and Italy's Mussolini.

That agreement did not include moving a large population out of the area that they had lived in for many years. It was intended to maintain peace. They believed Hitler would not continue to advance against other nations. It is a perfect example of how appeasement does NOT work to bring peace when one deals with... a terrorist.

Peace at all costs? It did not work in 1938. Hitler continued his advance on Czechoslavakia and then Poland, and then ... eventually France, Italy, and.... England. He even tried to take over Russia.

This past week, we have been told that this withdrawal is in the interest of peace. It may be on one side. I sincerely believe that Sharon thinks it will work, and so does Bush.

The land came under Israeli control after the Six Day War in June, 1967.

Tonight, I have come across another who seems to feel as I do, Emmett Tyrell. I think back on all I have learned and read the past years since I graduated from HS just as this war began in June, 1967, as well as the example of the Sudentenland...and I cannot help but fear for Israel!! Compromise with Hitler did not work. Compromise with any bully does not work... compromise here may not work for long...

I remember that the Mufti of Jerusalem was photographed with Hitler, was a Nazi sympathizer, and how Arafat was determined to get rid of the nation of Israel. I remember that the desires of the Arab nations from the very beginning of Israel on May 18, 1948 is to drive the Jews into the sea and be rid of them, once and for all. I remember how this continues to be the intent even today, and all I can think of is... they are now that much closer to Israel, if a new 'nation' is formed for the 'Palestinians'.

There have always been Jewish people living in that area, perhaps not as a nation, but they have been in that entire area. I remember, also, that Christians were also there, and how they have been leaving the area because of persecution. Not by the Israelis, either. And I can't help but wonder why the insistence that not one Jewish person can remain in the territory of Gaza, etc in order to make 'peace'.

To me, this smacks of ethnic cleansing. To me, this smacks of a dangerous precedent. And, based on past 'agreements' that have not been kept on the part of the Arabs.... it smacks of more of the same. Appeasement just simply does NOT work to make peace.

We should have learned this in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland. We should have learned this when he marched on France, Italy, Russia...and attempted to take England. Yet the same nations Hitler walked over then....support this and say nothing.

I would like to think that I am wrong. I would like to believe that this will bring peace to the region. I would like to think that those Jewish settlers have truly been moved out of their homes for a lasting peace...but already, the ante has been upped. NOW they also want the Jews out of other areas...

You don't beat a bully by appeasement. You don't keep giving a bully your lunch money hoping that he will stop coming after you. He will keep demanding more. Appeasement does NOT bring peace. Appeasement simply makes you more vulnerable to attack.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Today in the news......in 1941, Hitler stopped the T4 program.Many spoke out against it then, including Cardinal von Galen from the pulpit, whom I have spoken of before.Today, though we don't call it that, we are heading faster and faster toward it. Using the rationale "Quality of Life", and the expense involved, we can find debates on the value of 'saving' premature babies, disabled (especially brain damaged persons) and elderly. We use a 'compassionate' stance to starve/dehydrate someone to death....more on this can be found in an article by Dr Allan CarlsonThough it was stopped IN Germany, Hitler and his ilk found another place to continue, and also other victims to use what they had learned...

1941 Hitler suspends euthanasia program

On this day in 1941, Adolf Hitler orders that the systematic murder of the mentally ill and handicapped be brought to an end because of protests within Germany.

In 1939, Dr. Viktor Brack, head of Hitler's Euthanasia Department, oversaw the creation of the T.4 program, which began as the systematic killing of children deemed "mentally defective." Children were transported from all over Germany to a Special Psychiatric Youth Department and killed. Later, certain criteria were established for non-Jewish children. They had to be "certified" mentally ill, schizophrenic, or incapable of working for one reason or another. Jewish children already in mental hospitals, whatever the reason or whatever the prognosis, were automatically to be subject to the program. The victims were either injected with lethal substances or were led to "showers" where the children sat as gas flooded the room through water pipes. The program was then expanded to adults.

It wasn't long before protests began mounting within Germany, especially by doctors and clergy. Some had the courage to write Hitler directly and describe the T.4 program as "barbaric"; others circulated their opinions more discreetly. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and the man who would direct the systematic extermination of European Jewry, had only one regret: that the SS had not been put in charge of the whole affair. "We know how to deal with it correctly, without causing useless uproar among the people."

Finally, in 1941, Bishop Count Clemens von Galen denounced the euthanasia program from his pulpit. Hitler did not need such publicity. He ordered the program suspended, at least in Germany. But 50,000 people had already fallen victim to it. It would be revived in occupied Poland.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Thanks to Dr J P Hubert, MD FACS, Catholic Ethicist

In what must surely be described as hubris of the most despicable sort, Lifenews.com has reported that Michael Schiavo husband of now deceased Terry Schiavo has been invited to address an upcoming Euthanasia Conference at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1]

The conference will purportedly outline the escapades of neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford (the new Doctor Death) who testified on behalf of Michael Schiavo that Terry was in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). The experiences of Dr. Cranford are being described as “33 years of Clinical Ethics in Minnesota: Ron Cranford’s Stories of Heroes and Courage” no doubt representing the most oxymoronic use of terms ever imagined in the realm of ethics. Steven Ertelt of reported that:

“Cranford is infamous for his position in favor of assisted suicide and made headlines when he testified in court that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state, despite the view of doctors and neurologists who said otherwise.

Cranford is a member of the board of directors of the Euthanasia Society of America and has ties to the organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society, another pro-euthanasia group.

In a profile of Cranford, WorldNetDaily cited a piece he wrote for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1997, in which he advocated assisted suicide as a way to lower the rising number of patients afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia…

The case of Terri Schiavo is presented as one of the landmark euthanasia cases in the last 30 years, emphasis mine).”[2]

The fact that the Terri Schiavo case is being presented as a “landmark” example of euthanasia will no doubt come as a shock to Fr. Richard Mc Brien who recently wrote that what was done in Terry’s situation was completely compatible with Catholic teaching and was not euthanasia.

“The autopsy report removed all doubt that the withdrawal of the feeding tube, far from being an act of euthanasia or even outright murder, was entirely consistent with traditional Catholic moral principles.”[3]

That a Euthanasia Conference could be staged at what was once a fine teaching hospital dedicated to the health care of indigent patients only adds to the irony and tragedy involved. These developments should remove all doubt about whether the Terry Schiavo case was a carefully choreographed integral part of the growing death cult by two of its chief protagonists; Dr. Ronald Cranford and pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos. Shame on them and Hennepin County Medical Center. As for Michael Schiavo who is apparently pursuing a medical malpractice claim against the doctors who treated Terry for esophageal bleeding while he attempted “in late 2003, despite his efforts to have a local judge stop the treatment so Terri would die”[4] what can one say?

LifeNews.com August 16, 2005, at: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1113.html. “Michael has been invited to address a euthanasia conference at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. The conference is titled, ‘33 Years of Clinical Ethics in Minnesota: Ron Cranford’s Stories of Heroes and Courage.’”

Terri Schindler Schiavo's remains quietly were buried at Sylvan Abbey Cemetery in Clearwater, Florida after she was forced to die from 13 days of starvation and dehydration. The removal of her feeding tube came after a local probate Judge in Clearwater, Florida had obliged Terri's estranged husband, Michael Schiavo's wishes, to remove her feeding tube; a small tube that had successfully nourished Terri for 15 years after her unexplained tragedy.

Her family was not allowed to be in the room with Terri when she took her final breath. Michael had forced them to remain in the hallway. After her death, her body was immediately taken from Woodside Hospice in Clearwater, Florida, and driven to the local coroners office where an autopsy was performed the following day. It wasn't until several weeks later, when the autopsy report revealed to the public that Terri was healthy in every way, except that of her brain injury. The report had concluded that her unexplained collapse, 15 years earlier, was not due to low potassium, or a heart attack; medical problems that Michael Schiavo had spent years convincing the courts, stating that was what had caused Terri's collapse in 1990.

Terri was baptized, confirmed, and raised a Catholic. Her parents Bob and Mary Schindler brought Terri and her siblings up in a loving Catholic family household. They attended Mass every Sunday. As well, Terri was married in a Catholic Church. In Catholicism, we are taught that life is a precious gift from God. Taking one's own life, or having someone shorten life, is equivalent to not being appreciative or grateful to God for the gift of life HE has given to us. Sadly, Michael Schiavo chose to shorten Terri's life at her young age of 41 years old. Terri's family suffered tremendously, knowing what Michael was doing to their daughter, was against God's wishes, and would be against Terri's wishes as well. Terri died on March 31, 2005.

The Schindler's suffering continued as the days passed by after Terri's death. Michael Schiavo had told news reporters that he had planned on keeping Terri's burial a secret, preventing her family from knowing where her remains were kept. Many reports had said that he was taking Terri's ashes out of the state of Florida and she was going to be buried in an undisclosed location somewhere in Pennsylvania. Needless to say, each day, as the Schindlers grieved the loss of their daughter, their angst grew more overwhelming, eagerly awaiting for some word, any word, as to where their daughters remains would be laid to rest.

On April 22, 2005, almost one month after Terri's death, Mary Schindler shared these words with me.

"My heart aches over the loss of my daughter. She was a part of my daily life for the last 41 years. She would have been residing in our home with us for the last fifteen years had she been allowed. She was, and will always be, my baby. I will never forget her. I miss her terribly. The pain and distress she was in during her final days because of what they did to her will never leave my mind. Bob has a difficult time sleeping at night. The last we were told was that Michael cremated Terri. This week, our attorneys told us she is still here in Florida. Michael will not tell us where, or what he will do with her and this breaks my heart. As her Mother, I want my daughter to be buried where our family may visit her graveside. Our only relief right now comes in knowing they can bring no more harm to her. We know that she is safe and in the protected hands of God."

It was not until three months after Terri's had died, that the Schindlers had learned by facsimile that their daughters remains were buried in Florida, at Sylvan Abbey Cemetery in Clearwater.

Last month I visited Terri's grave. She is buried in a very beautiful and peaceful cemetery. I was amazed to see that Terri was in a much older section of the cemetery and only a few feet from a pond and a very large fountain. The silence surrounding her grave site was drowned by the noise of loud running water. Water, the very substance that Terri was deprived of, resulting in her tragic and inhumane death.

After visiting Terri, I took a stroll around the cemetery and came upon a pleasant lady who had said she worked there. She was very friendly and willingly answered my questions. I had asked her about Terri's service. She replied, "There was no real service per say, she was buried in the early morning hours with just her husband and another gentleman there."

I then asked her how did Terri's remains happen to be buried in what appeared to be the older section of the cemetery. The bench at Terri's grave site was much newer than any other markers surrounding Terri's plot. She explained that Michael had known the woman who worked there and special arrangements had been made to bury Terri. She conveyed that Terri's remains were buried in an unplotted area of the older section of the cemetery. In other words, the average person would not have been capable of making purchase of that particular grave site. I also learned from her, that it took 13 weeks to order a marker and a bench. If my calculations served me correctly, that would have meant that Schiavo had ordered the bench and plot immediately after Terri died.

Aware of how Michael had shown no care or respect for Terri, her family, her love for her parents, or her faith and love for God, it really did not come as a surprise to me that he would have had the necessary connections to bury her right near the water. Nor did it surprise me to learn how he had known all along that he was not going to transport her remains to Pennsylvania, and his statements that he was going to ship her remains out of Florida, were obviously made only to cause her mother and father additional pain.

Michael Schiavo wrote on Terri's marker that she departed the earth in 1990, and that he had kept a promise to her.

I cannot resist asking one question to Michael Schiavo............. What about your promise before God; the promise you took on the alter to love and cherish Terri, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?

About the Author: Cheryl Ford is a licensed Registered Nurse in the state of Washington. She is the founder and CEO of her own company which assists in the financial, social and clinical assessment and placement of patients requiring a wide range of skilled medical treatment to over 450 licensed Adult Family Homes. The licensed Adult Family homes are owned and operated by physicians and nurses. While also maintaining another residence and an additional business in the state of Florida, her involvement as an activist in the Terri Schiavo case has arisen as a concerned citizen, as well as from the many years of knowledge she possesses as a Clinical Case Manager, licensed Registered Nurse and former firefighter/paramedic.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Felos and the media would have us believe that starvation/dehydration are an 'easy and peaceful' way to die.

Though many have noted hunger pangs that cause MUCH discomfort after only going a few hours without a meal, and we have LONG heard that someone is 'dying of thirst'...and we all understand exactly what that means, they still tried to tell us differently, though there ARE some places where the truth was published.

And where is her husband in this matter of her feeling 'useless' simply because she is 28 and has a disability? Many people feel even worse without supportive family members lifting them up when down. This woman sounds DEPRESSED to me.

I am wondering how much, and what kinds of fluids she drank while trying to die of starvation..Even by drinking just water, she saved herself the following:

"Is dying of thirst and dehydration a painless death as some experts have asserted? Most so-called experts have never seen someone die in this manner. Unfortunately, having worked for 13 years in Africa, where the most common cause of death in children is dehydration from gastroenteritis, I have seen hundreds if not thousands of patients with dehydration and some of them so far gone, that despite resuscitation attempts, they died."

"As dehydration begins, there is extreme thirst, dry mouth and thick saliva," Dr. Stevens explained. "The patient becomes dizzy, faint and unable to stand or sit; has severe cramping in the arms and legs as the sodium and potassium concentrations in the body go up as fluids go down. In misery, the patient tries to cry but there are no tears. The patient experiences severe abdominal cramps, nausea and dry-heaving as the stomach and intestines dry out."

"By now the skin and lips are cracking and the tongue is swollen," Dr. Stevens continued. "The nose may bleed as the mucous membranes dry out and break down. The skin loses elasticity, thins and wrinkles. The hands and feet become cold as the remaining fluids in the circulatory system are shunted to the vital organs in an attempt to stay alive. The person stops urinating and has severe headaches as their brain shrinks from lack of fluids. The patient becomes anxious but then gets progressively more lethargic."

"Some patients have hallucinations and seizures as their body chemistry becomes even more imbalanced. This proceeds to coma before death occurs. The final event as the blood pressure becomes almost undetectable is a major heart arrhythmia that stops the heart from pumping."

"Contrary to those that try to paint a picture of a gentle process, death by dehydration is a cruel, inhumane and often agonizing death."

Someone who cannot keep wedding vows... who is not only unfaithful with several women, but also has two children by one of them... Who promises in a medical malpractice lawsuit to fulfil his vows ... and to give his wife rehab with the proceeds of two lawsuits... then goes back on that promise and does not even allow a rolled washcloth to be placed in her hands because it is THERAPY... who works to have his disabled wife murdered by DEHYDRATION/starvation...

Monday, August 15, 2005

Barbara Weller Tells It Like It IS!!

KUDOS to Barbara J Weller for telling it like it is! See the rest of the article, but............this is the slam dunk section.

We have become a culture desirous of throwing away people at both ends of life and even in the middle if they are inconvenient and are not able to care for or speak for themselves.

A society is measured by how it cares for the least of those among us. We all need to seriously ask ourselves what these outrageous awards are really saying about the current culture of death in Florida.